German Chancellor Angela Merkel has apparently decided she's not willing to take the chance of becoming the latest politician to fall victim to the same "Russian hacking" and "fake news" campaigns which 'undoubtedly' caused the downfall of America's liberal darling, Hillary Clinton (forget those pay-for-play scandals, federal record retention violations and willful non-compliance with Congressional subpeonas...total non-factors in the 2016 election). And since they can't really control the actions of those pesky 'Russian hackers," Germany's cabinet has instead decided to pass legislation that would impose serious fines of up to 50 million Euros on any social networks that fail to...

The tax agency has stopped requiring individual filers to indicate whether they maintained health coverage or paid the mandate penalty as required under the law How much difference does a single line on a tax form make? For Obamacare's individual mandate, the answer might be quite a lot. Following President Donald Trump's executive order instructing agencies to provide relief from the health law, the Internal Revenue Service appears to be taking a more lax approach to the coverage requirement. The health law's individual mandate requires everyone to either maintain qualifying health coverage or pay a tax penalty, known as a...

Rockville library books due in 1973 and 1974 were found years after parents' deaths, so their son paid the estimated $1,552 fine.Library books checked out in 1973 and 1974 were found by the adult children of a couple who had lived in Rockville decades ago. At 5 cents a day, the overdue fine for the two books would be a whopping $1,552 — which the family paid to make things right. Montgomery County Public Libraries’ Director Parker Hamilton said the rare donation sent to the library system in a letter will benefit many users. "People do not have to fess...

This is my proposed Constitutional judicial amendment to be Effective October 1, 2018: 1. The jurisdiction of federal courts shall be limited to: a. cases where the federal government or a foreign government is either the plaintiff or a defendant b. cases where either the plaintiff or a defendant is a foreign person covered by US accredited diplomatic status, foreign public minister, a current/former US federal Constitutional officer or current/former US federal judge c. controversies between two or more states, upon the request of at least one d. private civil disputes (primarily) of the District of Columbia or a federal...

Mayor de Blasio was hit with over $47,000 in fines for violating campaign finance rules— including having his partially taxpayer-funded campaign pick up the tab for a makeup artist for his family and a six-figure payout to his buddy’s PR firm that appeared unwarranted. The huge sum is one of the highest fine amounts hit on any of the 2013 campaigns. The Campaign Finance Board, in a determination released Thursday, levied most of the $47,778 in fines against the mayor for what it called “impermissible” post-election spending. The $21,159 fine for that violation largely stems from a $168,750 payout to...

Federal regulators rebuked an Elgin demolition company and fined it $152,000 for safety violations leading to a worker's death on a Jane Addams Tollway bridge in Des Plaines this spring. Vicente Santoyo of Berwyn, a father of four, was standing in a lift cutting bracing between two beams to be removed from the bridge at Touhy Avenue when one rolled off a concrete support April 5, falling on him. U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigators cited Santoyo's employer and tollway subcontractor Omega Demolition Corp. for "overstressing" the 40-ton horizontal beam during demolition. That means the beam wasn't adequately supported,...

The Justice Department is discouraging state court systems from jailing defendants who fail to pay fines or fees, warning against practices that it says run afoul of the Constitution and erode community trust. A letter being sent Monday by the federal government to state court administrators makes clear that judges should consider alternatives to jail for poor defendants who don’t pay their fines. It also says defendants should not be locked up without a judge first establishing that a defendant who failed to pay did so willfully. […] The new guidance comes amid concerns that some local courts are effectively...

"World's Oldest" Cognac Opened in Poland What is thought to be the world's oldest Cognac sold at auction was opened in Poland recently to inaugurate a partnership between a Swiss watchmaker and a corporate collector. The Gautier Cognac was purchased by collector Wealth Solutions in 2014 during an auction of rare wines and liquors organised by Bonhams Fine Art Auctioneers & Valuers in New York. The bottle itself dates back to 1762 and was recognised as the oldest Cognac sold at public auction to-date when it went under the hammer. It was opened during a ceremony to mark the partnership...

Upscale Beverly Hills is among four California cities whose water utilities have been fined for not forcing residents to conserve enough water during California's unrelenting four-year drought, officials said on Friday. The wealthy Los Angeles area municipality was fined $61,000 on Thursday, making it the only community not located in a desert to be assessed penalties, the California State Water Resources Board said. "Some urban water suppliers simply have not met the requirements laid before them," said Cris Carrigan, director of the water board's Office of Enforcement. "For these four suppliers, it's been too little too late."

The Department of Justice has accused a business of discrimination due to the company requiring employees to show proof of citizenship for employment. The DOJ claims that Nebraska Beef Ltd., a Nebraska-based meat packing company, “required non-U.S. citizens, but not similarly-situated U.S. citizens, to present specific documentary proof of their immigration status to verify their employment eligibility.” After receiving pressure from the government, Nebraska Beef agreed to pay $200,000 in a civil penalty settlement and said they will establish an uncapped back pay fund for people who lost wages because they could not prove they are in the country legally....

After getting hit with a financially-crushing $135,000 fine last week for their decision to not bake a cake for a lesbian wedding, the Christian owners of the Oregon "Sweetcakes by Melissa" bakery say they have until Monday to pay up, or else the state of Oregon could place a lien on their home. The punishing fine was levied by Oregon's Bureau of Labor and Industry against the couple for unlawful discrimination against a same-sex couple. They must pay in full by Monday with "personal property" rather than only business assets and the fine "has the potential to financially ruin" the...

The penalty for not having health insurance this year is more than doubling. Coloradans have until February 15 ,2015, to shop for plans through the Connect for Health Colorado market place. Under the Affordable Care Act individuals are required to either have health insurance or pay a penalty at tax time. That penalty is either a flat rate or two percent of family income. This year, that rate is $325 per adult, $162 per child and up to $975 per family. Compared to last year the fine for an adult was only $95 and up to $285 per family.

Secretary of State John F. Kerry Â— now BostonÂ’s most prominent shoveling scofflaw Â— returned home to his Louisburg Square manse last night, his sidewalk newly cleared just in time to avoid an international incident. Kerry is due to host the foreign ministers of Canada and Mexico in Boston today and tomorrow, he announced on his Twitter feed. Â“Glad to welcome FM @Baird & FS @JoseAMÂ­eadeK up to #Boston on Fri. Hope they donÂ’t mind a little snow. #GoodNeighbors,Â” â€¨@JohnKerry tweeted. But in a neighborhood where people were out diligently cleaning their sidewalks, KerryÂ’s remained untouched two days after the...

Those Americans who didn’t get health insurance last year could be in for a rude awakening when the IRS asks them to fork over their Obamacare penalty — and it could be a lot more than the $95 many of them may be expecting. The Affordable Care Act requires those who didn’t have insurance last year and didn’t qualify for one of the exemptions to pay a tax penalty, which was widely cited as $95 the first year. But the $95 is actually a minimum, and middle- and upper-income families will actually end up paying 1 percent of their household...

Taxes are bad enough when you know they’re coming—and much worse when they arrive unexpectedly. As the Affordable Care Act enters its second year of operability, a key and controversial element of the plan will begin to affect several million Americans for the first time. People who didn’t have health insurance during 2014 may soon have to pay a penalty fee that starts at $95 and goes up based on how much you earn. Some Americans know about the penalty, and they’ve budgeted for it or at least accepted its inevitability. But several million others could be in for a...

The Washington Post on Wednesday revealed a U.S. Forest Service plan that would "fine photographers who shoot on federal wild lands without a permit." Reporter Hunter Schwarz noted how "critics have characterized the rules as too vague and say it infringes on the First Amendment's free speech clause," and quoted from a U.S. senator who raised his concerns about the "troubling questions about inappropriate government limits on activity clearly protected by the First Amendment" (Olympic National Park's Ruby Beach pictured at right; taken by Matthew Balan in September 2011). Schwarz cited a Tuesday report by The Oregonian that outlined the...

WASHINGTON – A federal judge has dismissed the Federal Aviation Administration's only fine against a commercial drone user on the grounds that the small drone was no different than a model aircraft, a decision that appears to undermine the agency's power to keep a burgeoning civilian drone industry out of the skies. Patrick Geraghty, a National Transportation Safety Board administrative law judge, said in his order dismissing the $10,000 fine that the FAA has no regulations governing model aircraft flights or for classifying model aircraft as an unmanned aircraft. FAA officials said they were reviewing the decision and had no...

I am done. This site has broken me. I am as staunch a conservative as you will find. After returning from Iraq, injured and upset, I turned here and found a welcoming community that shared my thoughts. I am a proud Gadsden Flag waiving man of the Tea Party movement. But because I don't think Sarah Palin is as historically important as other GOP women in the past, I am now considered an idiot, a RINO, ass-kisser and whatever negative connotation you can throw my way. This site has changed so much since that dictator want to be became President...